Danny Ainge, Mic’d Up!
May 15, 2008That Will Be All, Kenny Wright
May 15, 2008
Boston took it to the Cavaliers in game 5. Rajon Rondo came up big, putting the pressure on the Cavs to respond on Friday night…or stay home.
Talk about a tale of two halves. The Cavs enjoyed a 14 point lead in the second quarter, only to see it disappear on consecutive big shots by Rajon Rondo. Still, the Cavs were in position to win this game but couldn’t get it done in the third and fourth quarters. LeBron James had his shooting touch back early on, going for 23 in the first half before the Celtics put the squeeze on him in the second. So what went wrong? Where did the Cavaliers lose this one?
First, after driving to the basket successfully in the first half, LeBron (Mike Brown?) reverted back to ‘the play’. Cavalier fans know which one I’m talking about. Despite having tremendous success in games 3 and 4, the Cavaliers went to the LeBron isolation at the top of the circle again. Perhaps they had been praised too much for spreading the ball around recently. Perhaps Mike Brown was looking to protect his reputation as a terrible offensive coach. Or perhaps LeBron forgot that his teammates were more than capable of helping out.
Speaking of those teammates, where was Zydrunas Ilgauskas? The Cavs most consistent scorer in the series attempted 5 shots. 5 shots! For the series Zydrunas was averaging 12.5 shots and 15.5 points. Whether the Celtics made an adjustment in guarding Z, or the Cavs decided not to use the big man I’m not sure, but this must be corrected if the season is to continue for the Cavaliers. The Cavs weren’t setting up their teammates either, as they recorded a series low 11 assists.
Another factor was the defensive intensity. The Cavaliers decided to leave their help defense in the locker room at halftime. Help was sluggish at best, and at times non-existent. Rondo broke down the Cavaliers defense by driving to the lane and hitting that floater three or four times. Still, the Cavaliers would have been right in this one had they used the same intensity that they brought the last 2 minutes of the game. Credit Boston with getting all the hustle stats in the second half. They killed us with offensive rebounds (12-7) and grabbed more boards overall (38-30). Rebounding is about positioning and desire, and the Celtics obviously wanted this one more.
So the series returns to Cleveland. The Celtics won’t be picked by many to win, due to their terrible road record in the playoffs. To me that helps take the pressure off Boston. If nobody expects you to win, and you have a home game to fall back on, why not be ultra aggressive? I think the pressure is squarely on the Cavaliers in this one. Hopefully they get back to the kind of basketball that they played in games 3 and 4 which was unselfish and focused.
14 Comments
I actually see Boston relaxing knowing they have a home game to fall back on.
Rondo played 42 minutes last night and admitted being tired after the game (he needed 30 minutes of treatment). This is a very long season for him (college isn’t near as long) so here’s to hoping he wears down tomorrow night.
wow, look! a comment!
Don’t forget we missed about 14 free throws last night as well, especailly down the strectch in the last 4 minutes….make 7 more and it’s in OT, thats besides the point though, the last 4 minutes of the 1st half and the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half killed us……especially when you turn the ball over on your first 3 posistions of the 2nd half…trash.
Hopefully the home team trend continues in the next game becuase I would love to see LBJ in a game 7 in Boston, thats one of the biggest stages you can have.
Agreed about LeBron in game 7 cbus..good points as well.
Series should be 4-1 and we’re getting ready for detroit.
You guys enjoying the roller coaster?
Every game at halftime I find myself praying for the team to come out anything but flat. Maybe the Cavs need to hire a karate expert to smash concrete blocks at halftime in the locker room. That gets me fired up.
Maybe if the second half would start with fireworks, the team would realize it’s game time again and will come out hard.
I really think the Cavs need to in essence hire an offensive coordinator. When you have Kenny Smith talking every game about how the Cavs can’t run thier iso offense anymore, it’s pretty obvious. Game 4 was broken open by ball movement and execution, not by iso plays.
After Boston had the momentum going into the half I was pretty sure the Cavs would need nothing short of a miracle to stay in it. I was surprised that they stayed close, but couldn’t believe the inability of the team to make free throws down the line.
I know that Boobie was out, but after Pavlovic did nothing in the first half couldn’t MB try to play Devin Brown or another shooter? Boobie going out was a huge blow IMO.
By “another shooter”, you mean Damon Jones, right? If so, then yes, I agree…..I would love to see “another shooter” out there for once. 🙂
i agree 100% Rock
Damon Jones and Devin Brown are in Mikey Boy’s dog house for no apparent reason to us, for what? Being consistent this whole season? I don’t get it
Daniel Gibson going down was a big blow, here’s to hoping he’s back in for Game 6. I really agree with the statement to hire an offensive coordinator. Every good team knows how to run a offense, especially an isolation. If we want to take the step from a great team to a championship caliber team, than we need to learn to run an offense. Mike Brown needs to admit he can’t coach offense and hire an offensive coach. I think I’m speaking for everyone when I say that we would all see him in a brighter light if he hired one.
Good article again, keep up the good work Rick 🙂
I really wonder whether the offensive coordinator approach we are asking for is realistic? Mike makes the final decisions as far as who’s in the game and even playcalling. I’m all for an offensive assistant that creates new plays and offers in game advice I guess.
Same way Thibedeau handles the defense in Boston. The system is what is important. If the Cavs have a good offensive system they will be much better. Brown will still call the plays, but at least the plays will be running under a much better system
I agree on the offensive cordinator concept, especailly if they don’t pick up a pure point. I’m thinkng getting a pg in the pass first mode would be great (better than an OC) because it would give Lebron the abilty to play off the ball instead of dominating it. On that note, I wouldn’t mind Bayless, from Arizona, in this years draft. If he’s there when we pick, wishfull thinking probably, unless we try and move up into the top 10. I think he has way more game than Mayo and projects better in the NBA because he is a willing passer and doesn’t appear to be afarid at the end of games, which was apparent when Buddinger would disappear for the Cats during the year and Bayliss would have to try and take over.
I also wouldn’t mind them trying to user LeBron in the High Post and run cutters through the lane that would be really interesting to see because of his passing ability, which I think is the most underated of his talents. I would post him up too, especailly because of how quick he is, LBJ ussually ends up with a smaller player on him which causes a big/wing to rotate over to double when he is in the post because of this advantage. I mean has that even happened with him in the post this series? I know Posey and Peirce couldn’t check him 1-on-1 in the post and if you stick him in the post at least you have people open on the outside that can hit jumpers instead of getting trapped 30 feet from the basket and causing everything to stagnate. not to mention what this would do for the spacing for everyone, even more so with the range Z has on his jumper for a big. ( I think I would be happy with the basic MOTION offense from the movie “Hoosiers” at this point)
Rick, I don’t think the offensive co-coordinator is realistic. (like how I started the answer with the question, ala 2nd grade).
It’s not that MB’s ONLY problem is the offense. The ONLY thing he’s doing right is setting up a good defensive system. He makes questionable substitutions at odd times, he failed to call timeouts last night that could have helped quell the celctics run, and as evident in the 3rd quarter, if the O stagnates the players quit trying on D. EVEN LEBRON.
We need a head coach that can manage games, in addition to developing an offense. Mike Brown needs to give up too much control to make me feel comfortable about the staff next year. It’s not going to happen.
(and unfortunately our overall defense has been solid enough that there’s no way MB gets fired this offseason unless the cavs don’t show up for game 6.)
Gibson out for Game 6. Get Jones up
Z couldn’t hit the backboard last night.